Raising children is a difficult proposition. This past weekend presented its own set of challenges.

I have had to navigate a quizzical minefield filled with subjects such as “How do earthquakes work?”, “Do we get earthquakes here?”, “Why is that water knocking down all of the houses?” and the most difficult question of all: “What happened to all the people there?”

Ouch.

Growing up, my family never shied away from the topic of death. A hard concept for many to grasp, death is an undeniable part of life. My daughter was old enough to attend my grandfather’s wake and we explained to her the basic idea of death. Last September, my father passed away and my daughter and my oldest son were forced to deal with the loss. They handled it tremendously and were able to attend his funeral without incident. My son surprised everyone there by jumping up and holding onto my father’s casket as it was walked out of the church (a very brave and strong accomplishment for a 4-year-old!).

But how much is too much? Is there a reasonable level of revelation about the finality of life that you can impart upon your children without stealing their innocence?

I do not get much help regarding this matter from my daughter. There are times when she will be petrified of going up to her room to get something by herself. Yet other times she will sit down when we are watching “House M.D” or “Trauma: Life in the E.R.” and she is unperturbed by the grisly or gory parts. She will ask how a person got hurt and what kinds of things the doctors do to fix them.

I tell her she should not be watching but she is not scared at all. She asks questions that are mature for her age. Part of me feels like I am the worst dad in the world for even entertaining her questions, but another part of me wonders if squelching her natural curiosity would not make me an even worse dad. After all, Tiger Woods had a golf club in his hand when he was two years old. It stands to reason that a future doctor or surgeon might show some interest in his or her field from a young age.

In many cultures and religions death is not viewed as something to be feared, but as something that is a natural part of life. If you are willing to bring children into the world then you have to be willing to bear the responsibility of explaining to them that life is not eternal. Sometimes they will surprise you and be a bit more accepting than many adults who fear their own mortality. My family has had the opportunity to introduce the subject of mortality into their lives and I hope that later in life that little bit of humility will make them better people.